Thursday, December 13, 2012

Inks: My Final Answers

The past couple of months I’ve been trying out a variety of fountain
pen inks, both waterproof and water-soluble, with a plan to select a black, a brown and a blue ink with each of those properties. The trials didn’t
take long because in most cases, I knew fairly quickly if I didn’t like an ink
or had other reasons not to use it, so I moved on to the next sample before
using up the supply in the pen. Here are my final answers (at least for now):

(If you’re wondering why some of the ink names on my color
sample card look like they were scrawled by a kindergartener, it’s because I
used an old dip pen with a horribly scratchy nib. I need to replace that.)

Yes, I’ve selected two water-soluble blacks instead of one.
I really like the complex wash that Private Reserve Velvet Black makes. But I
also like the bold, true black of Private Reserve Ultra Black (and its fast-dry
quality, though minor, is a bonus to this leftie). So despite my rule about
choosing only one water-soluble black, I chose two (flexibility is a virtue).

Although Sailor Sei-Boku Blue Black is my waterproof blue of
choice, I’m still undecided as to whether to invest in a bottle of this expensive
ink. All of the waterproof blues I tried were more assertive when used with
watercolors compared to black or brown, which are neutral. (If I were looking
for a waterproof blue writing ink, this would definitely be my choice – it’s
smooth, “wet,” and a lovely color. But choosing writing inks would be a whole different
test!) I’m not sure I would use blue with watercolors much, but I’m still using
the sample and keeping this option open.

OK, so I set out to choose six inks, ended up with eight (possibly seven, if I eliminate the Sailor Sei-Boku),
and I’m happy. I haven’t met a sketch yet that couldn’t be tackled by something
in this solid set of inks, and it's not too many to carry.